by Tim Gordon
The journey of 26 plundered royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey exhibited in Paris, is now being returned to Benin. Diop artistically voices a new generation’s demands.
The documentary film blends facts and fiction to narrate the stories of 26 African artworks. The royal artifacts from the Kingdom of Dahomey (1600–1904) were taken to France during the region’s colonial period (1872–1960). In the 21st century, they were put on display in the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, a museum of non-European art located in Paris. Following a campaign for repatriation, the artifacts were returned to Benin.
Among the returned works were statues of two kings of Dahomey, Glele and Béhanzin. Their throne, which had been seized by French soldiers in 1892, was also given back. The art pieces are now displayed in a museum in Abomey, the old royal city, about 65 miles from the Gulf of Guinea.
Dahomey is an internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Mati Diop. It is a dramatized account of 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey (in the modern-day Republic of Benin), which were held in a museum in France. The film explores how the artifacts were returned from France to Benin and the reactions of the Beninese people.
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